Data Center News Roundup: AI Guidelines and Bidding Wars

With data center news moving faster than ever, we want to make it easy for data center professionals to cut through the noise and find the most important stories of the week.

The Data Center Knowledge News Roundup brings you the latest news and developments across the data center industry — from investments and mergers to security threats and industry trends.

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1. Nvidia’s Shares Surge After CEO’s Data Center Predictions

Nvidia experienced a significant surge in its share price, with a gain of 24.7% last week, attributed, in part, to CEO Jensen Huang's second-quarter earnings statement the previous day. Huang predicted a $1 trillion data center equipment overhaul — replacing outdated chips and equipment — driven primarily by investments in generative AI and accelerated computing. Nevertheless, among experts, questions linger over the scale, cost, and limitations of these projected replacements.

2. Former Biden Tech Adviser Lays Out AI Guidelines to Balance Regulation and Innovation

Despite the growth of generative AI chatbots, their propensity to lie remains a major issue. With this in mind, Tim Wu, an influential voice in tech regulation and an architect of President Biden's antitrust policy, outlined his recommendations for responsible AI governance and fair practices. From proactive AI identification to content creator compensation, The Washington Post breaks down Wu’s suggestion for where regulators should and shouldn’t focus their attention.

3. Amazon Workers Demand Climate Commitments and Remote Work Flexibility

On Wednesday, hundreds of Amazon workers walked off the job to protest the company’s mandated return to office and demand renewed commitments to carbon emission reduction. While the impact of this walkout is yet to be seen, it signals employees’ growing distrust of Amazon’s leadership and the business’s direction.

4. AWS Data Center Chief Chris Vonderhaar’s Sudden Exit

Chris Vonderhaar, the head of data centers at Amazon Web Services, abruptly left the company last month, leaving a slew of yet-to-be-answered questions in his wake. Only after word of Vonderhaar’s departure was posted to TikTok by Amy Nelson, whose husband (Carleton Nelson) is currently being sued by Amazon, did the company confirm the news.

That said, Amazon has yet to address the questionable circumstances surrounding Vonderhaar’s exit or provide information on plans for a replacement.

5. Multibillion-Dollar Bidding War for Compass Datacenters

This week, Reuters reported on a massive bidding war between two equity giants, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and DigitalBridge Group, over the Dallas-based Compass Datacenters LLC. Valued at over $5.5 billion, Compass provides “custom, move-in ready data centers,” and, for bidders, marks a strategic position in the data center market.

Other Great Data Center Reads on DCK This Week

Why 'Data Center vs. Cloud' Is the Wrong Way to Think. Data centers and the cloud are not as different as they may initially appear. Here, we explore the reasons why comparing the two doesn't make a lot of sense and how you might use both types of solutions.

When to Go Cloud-Native and When to Buy a Security Vendor Solution. Choosing a security architecture for cloud environments can be a complex puzzle full of stakeholders with conflicting interests. To help you in this process, Klaus Haller offers six theses to better assess the challenges and risks associated with cloud-native security tools and third-party solutions.

Why Data Centers Are Loud, and How to Quiet Them Down. Why does data center noise matter? What makes data centers loud? How do you make your data center quieter? In this guide, Christopher Tozzi explains the benefits of investing in meaningful data center noise mitigation.

That’s all for this week. Which of these stories is most important to you? Let us know in the comments below!